Treasury Secretary Mansueto Almeida said that the Brazilian public sector is on track to record a primary deficit of up to R$ 500 billion ($ 100 billion) this year because of the impact of the Covid-19 crisis.
Only in the first days of April, Petrobras recovered part of the market lost since the beginning of the year, passing R$ 183.6 billion ($ 36.6 bn) in the last trading day of March for R$ 220.6 billion ($44 billion). A statute managed to recover R$ 37 billion ($ 7.4 bn) in market value.
Aneel (National Electric Energy Agency) authorized the transfer of R $ 2,022 billion ($ 404 million)to guarantee liquidity to companies in the electricity sector during the crisis generated by the coronavirus pandemic. The funds will come from a reserve fund composed of charges charged to the electricity bill.
Magazine Luiza, the largest retail group in Brazil, with a value of R$ 62 billion ($ 12,4 billion) on the stock exchange, announced a plan to overcome the crisis caused by the new coronavirus. The first measure was the approval, by the board of directors, the issue of R$ 800 million ($160 million) in debentures. The statement does not clarify whether there is already a timetable for this operation.
Cement manufacturers in Brazil canceled the projection for sales growth this year, due to the impact by the coronavirus, according to an entity that represents the sector. Cement sales by business day in March fell 10.4% compared to the same month of 2019 and decreased 15% over February.
